AFCAT Exam Pattern

Considered amongst the major national-level entrance examinations for those wanting to build a career in Aviation, the Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) is organised twice a year for screening candidates for Indian Air Force services. The exam is conducted for class-1 gazetted posts under Ground and Flying Duties. For the technical branch, EKT(Engineering Knowledge Test) is required to clear in order to make a distinctive space in the field of aviation. Through this blog, we aim to elucidate the varied features of the AFCAT exam pattern as well as the application procedure.

Highlights 2021

Mode of Exam	Online
Number of Sections	AFCAT: Four EKT: Three
Number of Questions	AFCAT: 100 EKT: 50
Maximum Marks	AFCAT: 300 EKT: 150
Type of Questions	MCQs
Language of Paper	English

AFCAT Exam Pattern Details

• Organized twice a year in February and August, AFCAT is an online exam that is conducted in two shifts with the medium of instruction as English.
• Along with the sections of AFCAT, the EKT exam is compulsory for those wanting to apply for the technical (Ground Duty) branch of the Air Force.
• AFCAT comprises 100 objective questions and the duration is of 120 minutes
• While in EKT, 50 questions need to be solved within the maximum duration of 45 minutes
• The EKT test will carry questions from Mechanical, Computer Science, and Electrical & Electronics
• Moreover, the applications for this exam generally open in the month of December, prior to the year of the batch placement.
• Thus, for AFCAT 2021, the registration opens on December 1 until December 30 (1800hrs).

Structure of AFCAT Exam Pattern 2021

In order to understand the AFCAT exam pattern, it is important that you are aware of the key features of the test given in the table below:

Exam	AFCAT
Mode of Exam	Online (computer-based)
No. of Questions	100
Maximum Marks	300
Duration of Examination	2 hours
Sections in Paper	AFCAT: General Awareness, Verbal Ability, Numerical Ability and Reasoning & Military Aptitude Test EKT: General Engineering & Specialist Paper for Each Engineering Discipline.
For Every Correct Answer	3 marks
Negative Marking	1 mark

AFCAT Exam Pattern 2021:

Exam	Subject	Duration	No of Questions	Maximum Marks
AFCAT	General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test	120 minutes	100	300
EKT	Mechanical, Computer Science and Electrical & Electronics	45 minutes	50	150

Section-wise Exam Pattern

Let us see the section wise exam pattern- of the AFCAT exam-

Section	Questions	Marks
General Awareness	20	60
Verbal Ability in English	30	90
Numerical Ability	15	45
Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test	35	105
Total	100	300
Duration	2 Hours

Marking Scheme 

• For correct answers, candidates will be allotted three marks
• One mark will be deducted for every incorrect answer
• No marks will be given for unattempted questions

Eligibility Criteria

Before coming to the AFCAT Exam pattern, let’s first take a look at the prerequisites that one needs to fulfil:

• The age limit (as of January 2021) for each of the branch is as follows:

Flying Branch: 20-24 years 

Ground Duty (Technical Branch): 20-26 years.  For the selection of Technical Duty branch, an additional examination has been introduced known as EKT(Engineering Knowledge Test) which one needs to qualify along with AFCAT. 

Ground Duty (Non-Technical Branch): 20-26 years (graduates); Up to 26 years (postgraduates) 

• In 10+2, the candidate should have mathematics and physics from a recognised university with a minimum of 60% aggregate marks.
• The candidate must have graduated in a BE/B Tech degree from any recognised university with 60% of aggregate marks. 

AFCAT Exam Pattern: Syllabus

Now that you are aware of the eligibility criteria as well as the structure of AFCAT, the next step is to understand the different topics included under the syllabus of this exam. Let’s first take a look at the following table which enlists the topics covered under the AFCAT syllabus:

General Awareness

• Sports
• History
• Geography
• Defence
• Culture
• Art
• Politics
• Basic Science
• Environmental Science
• International Affairs, etc

Numerical Ability & Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test

• Sets Based on Arrangements
• Rotated Blocks
• Hidden Figures
• Analogy
• Embedded Figure
• Data Interpretation
• Missing Characters
• Verbal and Spatial Ability 

English Verbal Ability

• Comprehension
• Error Detection
• Completion of Sentence
• Synonym and Antonym
• Vocabulary Testing
• Tenses
• Fill in the blanks

Moreover, the EKT syllabus mainly focuses on engineering and technical disciplines from various sub-fields of science. It has two sections, i.e. General Engineering and a Specialist Paper for each Engineering subject. For those planning to give EKT along with AFCAT, here is a list of subjects that you must study for the above-mentioned sections:

General Engineering: Electrical, Electronics, Mathematics, Computers, Chemistry, Modern Physics and Mechanical Engineering

Specialist Papers: Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering, Mechanical, Computer & Electronics, Communication Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering and Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering.

Reference Books for AFCAT Exam 

Name of Book	Author/ Publisher
AFCAT Exam Guide 1st edition for Flying and Technical Branch	Ramesh Publishing House
AFCAT Solved Paper	Arihant Publication
General Knowledge	Arihant Publication
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations	RS Aggarwal
A modern approach to Verbal Reasoning	RS Aggarwal

Thus, we hope that this blog has helped you understand the varied essentials of AFCAT exam pattern. If you want to pursue a career in Aeronautical Engineering and don’t know where to begin, our experienced counsellors at Leverage Edu are here to help you find the right course and university that can equip you with the necessary skill set to establish a flying career in this field.